Clarity
by ktoll9
Summary: AU: A little story about opportunities taken and chances thrown away.
1. Chapter 1

_**Clarity**_

 _ **Chapter 1**_

* * *

There was no mistaking those words from his mouth as he spoke to his mother about her. Kyoko stood in the doorway in shock as she listened to the man of her former dreams describe her. Plain, boring, ordinary, no sex-appeal and wouldn't marry her if she was the last living two legged creature on the planet. Did he really have to take it that far? Well, she was kind of glad he did, otherwise it would have made the decision she was about to make much more difficult.

When the camera crew and staff came in from Tokyo a month ago to film the commercial for the ryokan, Kyoko had been dazzled. When they had asked Yayoi Fuwa if she had any suggestions on a replacement for the actress that was down with the flu, she had suggested sweet little Kyoko. She was the perfect image she wanted representing their establishment. And when Kyoko had dazzled them with her dormant acting skills the director and producer made a call to a close, very eccentric friend that had made her an offer.

Yayoi Fuwa looked up at her pseudo-daughter and glanced at her son. The unreadable look the girl had on her face from his impromptu revelation, broke her heart and her next words send the shards scattering. There was only one thing she knew to do to make amends for raising such an uncaring, ungrateful son. She removed the permission documents from her desk drawer as Sho sat wondering what was happening, and she signed them.

She looked up at Kyoko knowingly. "Kyoko-chan... You have our blessing." She smiled softly yet sadly. "Ryuu would like to accompany you to the train station."

Kyoko nodded. "Thank you Okami-san... I will be ready in an hour." She told her without emotion as she took the documents from the torn woman and left to pack her meager belongings.

"Where is she going?" Sho asked irritably.

His mother raised an eyebrow at the arrogant 15 year-old. "I don't see how that is any of your concern Shotaro." She stood and walked to the doorway and looked out into the hall where her husband had entered. "Ryuu... Kyoko-chan had decided to take the job offer."

He started to protest but she gave him a pointed look and shook her head sadly as she glanced back into the office.

"Would you be kind enough to accompany her to the train station?" She asked him quietly.

He nodded. There was nothing more that he could do, she wasn't really their daughter. If she decided that she no longer wanted to be there, they would not stop her. They had discussed this when Lory Takarada had approached them about her talent and the offer. They had seen how happy she was when she finished that day and decided that, that was the happiest they had seen her since the summer of when she was six years-old.

"Thank you Dear. Please let her know, we will always be here for her if she needs us." She added quietly.

* * *

It had been seven months since Kyoko had left and now it was Valentine's Day. Girls from every class had showered him with chocolates and gifts. Life would be good but something seemed like it was missing. He shook the cobwebs from his thoughts. It was for the best that she was gone. He didn't need her hanging around him ruining his image and he certainly didn't need his family trying to marry him off to her.

"Did you see that new PV for Vie Ghoul?" He heard one of his male friends asking.

Why were guys talking about that band?

"Hai, hai... The girl they got to play the demon was hot!" His other friend answered lustily. "Wouldn't mind her wrapping those sexy fingers around my neck." He laughed.

"I know right? They did a feature on her in TeenBeat! Magazine." He pulled it from his bag and opened the magazine.

Sho's interest was piqued and he decided to see what all of the fuss was about. "So... Who you guys talking about?" Sho casually sat in the desk next to the owner of the mag and leaned back in his chair.

"Oh... It's this new actress that just made her debut. The article said she's been modeling, doing commercials and she's already done a couple of dramas." The boy opened the magazine's centerfold and displayed her picture.

Golden eyes on glossy paper stared back at him and strawberry-blonde hair glistened under the studio's lights for the photo.

"Too bad she's dating that Reino guy." The first one commented sadly.

"No man... She's dating Tsuruga." The other corrected.

"I thought she's been seen a lot with Hikaru Ishibashi from Bridge Rock." Another piped in.

"Doesn't matter who she's dating... Kyouko's still cute and I'm still a big fan." The first declared.

 _Kyoko?_ Sho felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. _Can't be... Didn't she work at a ryokan in Tokyo? Wait... they never said what the job offer was._ He felt a migraine coming on. _It can't be._ He repeated over and over in his mind until he finally got home, but not before he stopped at the news stand and picked up a copy of that magazine.

One really wouldn't know if it was pride, stubbornness or, denial but Sho never bothered to ask his mother the answer to the question that plagued his mind. Where exactly did Kyoko go? One would think that he would attempt to pursue music like he had briefly thought to before Kyoko left but without her there to support his dreams, he just didn't have the motivation to do so. Besides, why leave a place where he was being doted on and cared for so well, now that he didn't have to worry about being married off to her? He snorted at the ludicrous thought.

* * *

"Ryuu... Hurry up! Dark Moon is on!" Yayoi called to her husband as he walked into the family room with a bowl of popcorn and two sodas.

"Hai, Hai woman... She's not going anywhere. There's still a commercial. See?" He smirked. However, he was just as excited to see his pseudo-daughter as she was.

She smiled brightly and shocked Sho as he walked in to tell them that he was going on a date with Aimi-chan, his flavor of the week.

"Alright Shotaro... Have a good time." She waved him off without looking at him as the opening credits started on their stupid little night-time drama and the image of that disgusting pretty boy Tsuruga came on, then some chick with blonde hair and then this strangely beautiful girl with a big scar on the side of her face, dressed in an all black velvet dress flashed on the screen.

"Oh Ryuu... She looks so elegant. Doesn't she?" Yayoi commented proudly as she watched Kyoko descend from the stairs of the large mansion, riveting Sho to the spot behind his parents while his date waited for him to pick her up.

Ryuu nodded and rubbed his wife's shoulder. "Yes Dear... She looks like a queen." He whispered and kissed her temple as she dabbed the tears from her eyes.

Sho left the room rolling his eyes at his parent's behavior. "What's the big deal about that stupid actress?" He groused and left for his date. Who by the way, wouldn't shut up about the latest gossip about said actress and her long-time beau Tsuruga. _**(Because after all, he wasn't there to keep goading her ire and stoking the fires of her hatred. He meant nothing to her.)**_ She kept going on and on about how they knew each other when they were children and the red string of fate or, some crap like that. He decided that he would go out with Mina-chan next week instead of listening to this.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

* * *

He had never been so scared in his life. The two days that he had delved into the unknown, as Hana-chan had warned him that she had missed her period and that she could be pregnant, terrified him. There was no way he wanted to be tied down like that. He was only 17 and she had told him she was on the pill on Valentine's Day. However, it wasn't enough to make him want to stop. He would just be a tad more careful next time.

"Yayoi Dear... He makes her happy and she is of legal age. I don't really see a problem with them marrying." He comforted his wife.

"I suppose you're right. He does take good care of her." She commented in defeat.

Sho saw his parents take pens in hand and sign a document then put it in an envelope. He smirked to himself. He felt relief. The prospect of him ever marrying Kyoko was finally off the table. She was someone else's burden now. He wondered just who would be desperate enough to marry such a plain, boring girl with no sex-appeal. He snorted. _Probably someone equally plain and boring._ He laughed. _Probably some accountant or, something._ He pictured some homely man with nerd glasses and pants that were too short.

Two weeks later, there was not a dry eye in school. Sho scoffed. Who cares if that no talent actor got married? But why would his friends be so put out?

"She got married! What a lucky guy..." His first friend lamented.

The other sighed. "I guess it's kind of a good thing though... It means the girls will stop going on and on about him all the time and start paying attention to us." The other tried to see the bright side.

"Yeah, but he took our Kyoko-chan." The first one groaned.

The second sighed. "Who else did you think was going to get her? She is number one on the list. Way, way out of our reach if you think about it."

"I suppose you're right. How could any guy resist her Natsu-sama." The first one shivered.

Sho shook his head at the idiocy. How could any man cling to just one woman when there was such a nice variety out there? Yet the thought just felt so completely hollow.

* * *

All the girls at the ryokan would just not shut up about the beautiful girl and her gaijin husband that rented the Honeymoon Suite. All he heard, everywhere he turned were the tittering and the giggles about all of the ruckus that they made at night. He really needed to see them for himself. He thought as he meandered his way to the garden where he had been told the woman was reading a book.

As he came to the doorway, he spied a stunning strawberry-blonde with delicious long legs, sitting elegantly on a bench near the fountain, reading a book of fairy tales. He watched as a tall green-eyed, blond male, handed her a bottle of water and wrapped his arms around her protectively. He couldn't help but feel a little envious of the guy. She was pretty easy on the eyes.

"Shotaro... Could you let Hizuri-san and Kyoko-chan know their table is ready?" His mother asked as she breezed past him on her way to the storage room.

He looked at his mother in confusion as she pointed to the couple in the garden and he nodded without thinking much on it. He felt his legs carry him to the garden and wondered how he had actually arrived in front of the lovey-dovey couple.

The beautiful strawberry-blonde looked up from her book as her husband nuzzled her neck. She looked surprised. She smiled brightly and his mind went blank. "Sho?! So nice to see you again. Did you need something?"

He snapped out of it. "Oh... Um... Okasan says your table is ready." He croaked out.

She giggled. "Kuon... Stop that... We have company."

"I can't help that my wife tastes and smells so good." He murmured.

She sighed. "Well... You need something other than me to eat, Kuon... Our table is ready."

Kuon laughed. He knew she didn't mean for it to come out the way it had sounded and judging from the way the boy in front of them paled and then turned five different shades of red, it had definitely been misinterpreted.

"You really should think about it before you say things, Love." He chuckled and kissed her forehead.

She blushed and stammered. "Kuon! You know what I meant!"

Kuon looked at the dumbstruck young man. "Yeah, but I don't think he did." He smiled brightly.

She groaned. "Fine, let's get something to eat... Food, I mean." She clarified as Kuon stood and took her hand.

For some reason, Sho felt like the world had crumbled around him.

* * *

After spending two weeks, mostly in their room, the Hizuri couple had moved on to spend time in America. Sho had approached his mother finally, to ask just what the heck had happened. Where Kyoko had gone, who exactly did she get married to and if she was ever coming back.

Yayoi sighed. "Shotaro... Kyoko-chan heard you the night she had left. You hurt her deeply. She was offered a career in entertainment and she made her decision that night. That man that was here with her was her husband Kuon Hizuri-san, Hozu Shuuhei's son. Apparently they have known each other since she was six. She met him that summer and they became friends. Of course if you would have been paying attention to her, you would have known all of this. They decided to come visit this past two weeks before leaving for Los Angeles. They've been offered leading parts in two movies out of Hollywood." His mother sighed and shook her head, then glanced up at him. "I suppose she's not so plain anymore, Shotaro?"

He heard his father chuckle. "It's much better this way. Keeping her here would have been like keeping a songbird caged. She needed to spread her wings Yayoi."

Yayoi agreed. "I just hope that one day, she will come back to visit us." She sniffled.

He kissed her temple. "Don't worry Dear... She will." He smiled softly and gave her a comforting hug.

* * *

Many regrets and a few short years later as Sho was preparing the meats for dinner he heard a familiar voice lilt from the front desk as his wife bustled about the ryokan.

"Edward Kuu Hizuri, Isabel Juliena! Stop where you are! You are not to go running off ahead like you own the place." She scolded.

"Yes Oka-san..." The little voices chimed dejectedly.

"Come on guys. You know your mother's in no condition to go running after you right now. Stop giving her a hard time." A deep rich male voice chuckled.

The moment he heard his mother call from the hall of the family living quarters, his heart sank and everything came into a crystal clear focus. He looked at his mother as she passed the doorway and followed her out. He saw his wife, that had been picked for him bow gracefully and his mother wrap her arms tightly around a very pregnant, now 24 year-old Kyoko as her husband occupied their two little 5 year-old doppelgangers by allowing them to use his body as a jungle gym.

"Tamiko-chan, this is Shotaro's adoptive sister, Kyoko and her husband Kuon." Yayoi introduced them and Sho winced. Perhaps that would be him, had he not been so completely selfish and insensitive all those years ago. Maybe things would have been different if he had never said those things to his mother and just picked up and taken her to Tokyo with him. However, now he was the Taisho of the Fuwa ryokan, something that he never really wanted to be and she was a big Hollywood movie star with a beautiful family.

* * *

 ** _~fin~_**


End file.
